SHARE Architects’ Role in 2024’s Competitions and Festivals

Throughout 2024, SHARE Architects responded to invitations to curate juries for national architecture competitions in four Central and Southeastern European countries: the Bulgarian Architectural Awards, the Malta Architecture Awards, the 2024 Architecture Biennale Kosovo, and the MUST—Festival of Architecture, Design, and Urbanism in Iași, Romania.

The “Bulgarian Architecture Awards,” organized by the Chamber of Architects Bulgaria in partnership with SHARE Architects, is the country’s most significant professional and non-commercial architectural competition. It distinguishes good practices and quality works of architectural art regardless of budget, size, or function.

In the 2024 edition, the sixth in the competition’s history, the projects submitted were awarded in two categories, determined by two separate juries. The first category was for contemporary architecture, which has been implemented in the last 3 years. The projects submitted to it were evaluated by an international jury chaired by Arne Emerson, a partner in Morphosis (US), including Peter Pichler – Italy, Judith Cimpian – Great Britain, Busra Al – Turkey, and Georgi Kutov, winner of the “Bulgarian Architecture Awards 2023”. All of them are members of SHARE Architects Society.

The second category was for preserving cultural and historical heritage projects implemented in the last 5 years. A separate 5-member jury determined the winners in this category under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Arch. Todor Krastev: Prof. Dr. Arch. Yordanka Kandulkova, arch. Chavdar Georgiev, Dr. Arch. Aneta Vasileva and arch. Veneta Ivanova.

At Malta Architecture Awards 2024, SHARE Architects had the honor of being invited by the organizers, The Kamra tal-Periti (Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers), to curate the international jury panel that selected the finalists and which has decided the winner of the prestigious Premju Emanuele Luigi Galizia.

In addition to the Grand Prize (Overall Award), the jury also awarded prizes in 7 core categories (design excellence, community impact, interior architecture, heritage preservation, landscape architecture, architecture vision, and innovation), two special categories (emerging practice and climate action), and two role model categories (architecture leadership and lifetime achievement).

The Jury features five esteemed members of the SHARE Architects Society, who bring a wealth of experience and international perspectives to this prestigious architectural award: Simonetta Cenci, Partner at Ateliers Alfonso Femia (Italy), Isabel van Haute, Founding Partner of Coldefy & Associés Architectes Urbanistes (France), Davide Macullo, Founder of Davide Macullo Architects (Switzerland), Thomas Coldefy, Founding Partners of Coldefy & Associés Architectes Urbanistes (France), and Giuseppe Farris, Founder of Studio Farris (Belgium).

Seven distinguished architectural figures, members of the SHARE Architects Society, form the jury for the 2024 Architecture Biennale on 22 November in Prishtina, Kosovo.

The jury members were:

– Davide Macullo, Founder of Davide Macullo Architects, Switzerland

– Teuta Jashari, Associate Professor, Dr. Eng. Arch., Vice Dean, Faculty of Architecture, University of Prishtina, Kosovo

– Maurizio Meossi, Associate Director at Zaha Hadid Architects, UK

– Burak Pekoglu, Founder of BINAA Studio, Turkey

– Besian Mehmeti, Founder of BMA Architects, North Macedonia

– Ani Tola, Vice Dean, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, University of Tirana, Albania

It was a pleasure and an honor to curate this jury at the invitation of the Kosovo Association of Architects and its president, Bledion Baraliu, Co-founder and Managing Director of archiEDU.

In Romania, SHARE Architects curated the jury for the Moldova Regional Architecture Exhibition 2024 in Iași, organized by the Order of Architects of Romania, Iași Branch. This long-standing event aims at the architectural community in the North-East region of the country and the Republic of Moldova.

The architectural competition was judged by a panel curated by the SHARE Architects Society, consisting of the following international and local personalities:

– Roberto Beraldo, President of Ordine degli Architetti Pianificatori Paesaggisti e Conservatori Venezia

– Emil Ivănescu, President of the Order of Architects of Romania (OAR) and author of the Romanian Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Biennale

– Alkis Dikaios, Founding Partner at David + Dikaios Associates (Cyprus)

– Giorgi Sulaberidze, Founder of Artsudio Project (Georgia)

– Tomaz Kristof, Director of Studiokrištof (Slovenia)

– Christos Christodoulou, Founder of SIMPRAXIS (Cyprus)

SHARE Architects has also responded to the request from the Order of Architects of Romania (OAR) – Iași Branch, contributing to part of the content for The MUST – Festival of Architecture, Design, and Urbanism in Iași, Romania, held this year from October 21–25.

As part of the festival, SHARE Architects organized a public debate at the Central University Library (BCU) on the theme of Public Space, featuring four prominent guest speakers in architecture: Peter Murray, Founder of New London Architecture (UK); Reiner Schmidt, Landscape Architect (Germany); Ideal Vejsa, Founder of Maden Group (Kosovo), and Tiberiu Florescu, President of the Romanian Register of Urban Planners.

The MUST Festival, an extensive event launched in 2015, aims to bring architecture closer to the Iași community while fostering a platform for idea exchange between architects from the Moldova region and national and international professionals.

SHARE Architects’ contributions to these flagship events align with the organization’s founding mission to support and enrich architectural communities in the countries it serves.